A Rose of Summer in a Land of Winter
by whodidthewhatnow
Summary: One day I woke up with a set of memories not of my own, talking about futures that could be and places that never were, couldn't be. When tragedy stuck I set out to find my own destiny in this land of long Summers and Winters. Pseudo-SI
1. A Rose Blossom

Author Notes: Just something for fun. The idea hit me and I decided to run with it. Probably won't make it into a full blow detailed story and instead will write this in snippets format. For those wondering [I]technically speaking[/I] it's also a SI story.

~~~~OOO~~~~

I woke up slowly like always, though I refrained from laying back once more for an extra hour of sleep since I'm supposed to help mother in the kitchen now.

Waaaait a minute.

I sat on the bed and looked at my side. My younger brother was still sleeping, check? I looked down on myself and saw a tiny girl of around eight, scratching my head I found out I had shoulder length brown hair. Also check?

Except I also kind of remember being older? And a man?

... I think I'm supposed to be upset at not being a man, but I'm feeling kind of 'meh' about it? Somehow I feel depressed about that.

I'm also in a small village in the Riverlands, being the daughter of a former sellsword who settled down to have kids.

Well fuck, I'm on A Song of Ice and Fire.

Double fuck, I'm a _smallfolk_ on A Song of Ice and Fire.

Triple fuck, I'm a _woman_ smallfolk on A Song of Ice and Fire.

"Guess I will never make my own canal, huh?"

~~O~~

"Dad, can you teach me how to use a sword?" I asked my father one of these days and he looked at me from where he was repairing the hole in the wall from a board that became rotten.

"You're a girl, what do you want to use a sword for?"

"Oh, I can think of a few reasons why a poor, defenseless maiden might want to know how to defend herself in this world."

He hit his thumb with the hammer as I said those words and he let out a stream of curses flow from him. Hmm, a bit of variations on cursing compared with my modern day knowledge. I wonder if I can make my variations popular in the future? Food for thought.

"Who taught those things?" He demanded from me, grabbing me on the shoulders with a bit more force than strictly necessary.

"Who taught me what?" I said picture perfect innocence.

He stared at me for a few moments and I didn't give in, thought the large part that was a little girl wanted to squirm on his grip. Finally he sighed before muttering under his breath and releasing me. "I suppose I can teach you a thing or two on how to defend yourself", he relented, "but you have to keep up with your mother's lessons and not skip on helping in the fields, understand? And don't forget looking after your brother."

I nodded at him, with so few children at the village of my own age it was a no brainer. I didn't had much experience killing time playing around, working since an early age to help my parents. As is right and proper for a smallfolk elder girl.

"Speaking of them, I can hear your mother calling you. Now run around."

I didn't heard her saying that, but with my old man memories I knew that was adult speak for 'I want to be alone for a moment'.

~~O~~

Time passed, and my family were amazed at my development. Not that I was a genius or anything, or even a prodigy or something. Hard to be that when you have fragmented memories of another life that had already half faded from time, but also because I didn't knew how to read and write the local language. It _sounded_ like english, but the first time I saw the local script it was nothing at all like english. If I were to guess it was closer to one of Tolkien's elven.

What I did however was soak up the lessons quickly and dedicate far more time into mastering them than a child my age had any right to. Both the traditional womanly arts, such as embroidery (both to use at home and to sell on the local market), sewing, cooking and others, and the self-defense lessons my father gave me. He didn't felt a girl should handle a sword, at least not a girl of eight to nine, but he presented me with a dagger to train.

For some reason he also started teaching me archery and I was doing alright in it though I didn't practice it nearly as much. We also went to hunt on the nearby forest one day, bringing down a rabbit I shot through blind luck. It was delicious.

I guess my father liked the fact that he had a kid which he could spend some quality time with, even if I'm sure he preferred if I were a boy. My old man's memories told me I would probably suck at those things!

"Rose! Come on, we are going to the chapel today!"

I brought my younger brother, Edmond or Ed for short, with me. I had already brushed my hair, taking far more time with it than my old man memories did on his own hair, but guess that's being a girl for you.

"Let's go Ed, time to pay homage to the Seven." I told my younger brother of five. He nodded and we meet our parents at the front of our house, and they were dressed in better clothes than usual.

"Let's go Rose and Edmond", my father Richard said. Taking the hand of my mother Anna we went to the chapel.

As we walked I thought on what I was supposed to do with those old man memories I have. I mean, with few exceptions every noble is a backstabbing asshole, not that I need those foreign memories to know that, but the fact that soon-ish the Ice Zombie Apocalypse, what my old man memories called the Long Night and the invasion by the Others and Wights, will come in this or at least on the next generation. Unless I die young I'm probably guaranteed to see the world go to the seven hells.

But as a member of the smallfolk, as a woman no less, my influence is much more limited, and like my old man memories I don't have the temperament or stomach for certain acts that could potentially land me in a position of influence if I'm really, really lucky.

I don't know what to do.

Gods Old, New and foreign, I don't know what to do.

~~O~~

Looking around I saw a few neighbors talking with my father who had a dead look on his eyes. My mother was inconsolable, as for me? I was angry, angry at the world and the fact that this had happened.

It was just a cold, _just a cold_ , and yet my brother now lay dead on the coffin being buried right now. Fuck this backwards world without proper medicine, fuck this world without the proper education so that a village like this had a proper medic in it. Fuck this world for this fucking medieval stasis in it!

Fuck you G.R.R. Martin, fuck you!

I felt someone hug me, and looking up I saw my father. "It's alright dear, your brother", he sobbed, "he's with the Seven now."

Those words didn't reassure me, specially not when I had heard the other adults saying my father was lucky for 'only' losing a single child up until now.

The sad part was, they said it to lift his spirits and they meant it as that.

Suddenly, some of my old man memories felt so petty now. At least he knew in his heart that he had it much better than some people. Perhaps even I do have it better than some people.

That doesn't mean the pain is fake though.

~~O~~

Time passed, and I keep dedicating myself to my martial pursuits, if only so I could forget the pain of losing my little brother. Neither my parents had the energy to forbid me from training, specially since I was still as diligent as ever on my duties.

I still fought with my dagger, but father allowed me to practice with his sword sometimes, and he made me a practice one for me to swing around. I was also officially a 'woman', and boy wasn't that a freak out when I saw blood on my bedsheets. My old man memories supplied that something similar happened when his sister also became a woman, though she became one even younger than me at three and ten, or thirteen as my memories insisted.

"Come one Rose we're going to pick up a few things in the market", said my mother and I nodded. Father would stay on the farm to finish some preparations for harvest while I would help my mother on the market. As a notoriously strong girl, and only child besides, it was my duty to help her and I wasn't complaining. If my mother managed to fetch good prices, I could even buy a single pastry.

Of course, that's when everything went wrong.

You see, our farm is a fair bit away from the village proper so we had to walk for a while to reach it. The village was considered safe, but I'm not up to date with the news. For all I knew there would be bandits roaming the village.

Which was _exactly_ what happened right now.

"So", said a horse faced man with his band of brigands, "we got ourselves some easy prey huh? How about you pay the new toll for the road cuties?"

They quickly approached us, getting way closer than comfortable even if they weren't brigands.

"W-we don't want a-any trouble. T-this is all we have", my mother said while giving her coin purse.

The leader looked at the coin purse and frowned, before looking back at my mother. "Say, you have quite a cute kid with you", he said casually, "would be a shame if something happened to her."

"No! Anything but her! Don't touch her you bastards!" She said pulling her own dagger and I cursed at seeing my mother panic and act recklessly. With a moment's notice I was acting, taking my own dagger and stabbing the leader on the groin while my mother slashed at his throat making him fall on the ground choking on his own blood before he could order his goons.

For all the good that it did since they pulled their swords and came after us. Something hit me on the back of the head and my vision blackened out for a moment, and when I woke up again was to the sight of my mother being raped in front of me as someone held me on the ground.

"LET GO OF HER!"

The men raping my mother ignored my cry as I felt the man holding me shift his own grip for a moment.

Fucking world with it's fucking evil people made by a fucking sadistic evil fuck!

"AAAAHHHHH!"

Something inside of me snapped, and I felt a strange power flow on my body, giving me strength while encasing me in a soft white glow. With a violent jerk I threw the man on top of me before punching him on the throat and snapping his neck with absurd ease. Taking his sword I turned back to the group who had paused momentarily to stare at me before I charged at them.

I plunged the sword on the chest of the man currently on top of my mother, almost as if I was sliding a hot knife on butter, before I pulled the blade _up_ and cutting the man in half from chest to shoulder, the two halves of his body opening up and showering me with blood. Of course I used the same motion to swing in an arc towards my next enemy, basically cleaving him shoulder to hip. The other brigands looked at me, and one started to run.

I didn't let them, running as fast as I could, then going [I]even faster[/I], a trail of white rose petals failing behind me just as I stabbed another man on his back. Then another was decapitated.

And another and another and another and another and another and another.

When I realized the sword I was using had snapped in half and I was crushing the remains of one of the bandits with my bare hands. I took a deep breath before going back to my mother to help her up, when I saw her with a stab wound on her stomach.

No no no no no NO!

"MOM!"

"Rose... listen."

"No, hold your breath!" I said while unnaturally quickly I took a few rags and pressed on her wound before tying it up to make pressure. "We're not too far from home, dad can certainly patch you up, he's a former sellsword, he should know those things!"

Without pausing for breath I took my mother in my arms, she felt so light now, before I took off as fast as I could while at the same time trying not to shaker much.

"Rose... I love you."

"MOM!"

~~O~~

Time passed, another funeral came.

I can't help but feel numb now. Only after the whole ordeal passed and I calmed down a little, I realized what I did and what that implied. My old man memories supplied a possible answer to the mystery that was simple for me to verify.

Taking a small knife to my hand I made a small cut, and willing the power I felt before into my hand, I saw the cut slowly closing itself before my eyes.

Aura, the answer my old man memories supplied to me.

The manifestation of your soul, a power from a world that didn't exist from memories that shouldn't be there from another world that didn't exist.

I almost cried right then and there if I didn't felt so numb.

I could have saved my mother if I had awakened her aura, said one part of me, I cold not have worked said another, even if it did you need experience to awaken someone's else aura said a third voice.

Even if it was two against one, it was oh so tempting to fall back into self-loathing. My old man memories had plenty of practice with that one.

Looking at my father nursing a drink, I shook my head before going at his side and hugging him while 'subtly' dropping the drink. He made some half hearted attempts at scolding me before breaking down.

No, I didn't had the luxury of self loathing right now. My father need me, and it's my duty as his daughter to help him.

~~O~~

Time passed and I was fifteen years old, and the Mad King Aerys II finally pushed things too far. I heard rumors about the king burning down Lord Stark so that gave me my timeline at the moment. The Riverlands had just started mobilizing for war and I knew my part of the region wanted to rebel and was raising their banners.

I looked at my sickly father on his deathbed.

I had unlocked his aura at some point, confirming that it was possible, but still he became sick even with the healing abilities of the power. If I were to guess, it was because of heartbreak.

"Rose listen. Soon you will be alone in the world", he said in between labored breaths, "and I can't give you much of an inheritance." He reached for the small cabinet at the side of his bed where his sword was, "take my sword. It's castle forged so it's higher quality than most of what levies and sellswords usually carry. I can't give you the house since the actual owner is our liege lord, but those past few months I sold everything I could to give you a better start on your life."

I grasped at the sword on his side and looked at the coin purse. Everything he owned had suddenly disappeared from the house, and while my father had reassured me I thought some burglar had robbed us.

"If you find a better life somewhere else, please came back and take your family bones with you."

I chocked back a sob while nodding. "I will dad."

"Good good. I advise you to reveal your abilities only to those you trust, but you're a grown woman now and you can make your own decisions. Just take care alright?"

"I will dad."

"It's been so long since I saw my son. I hope your mother took good care of him while they waited for me."

With those parting words, he took one last and peaceful breath, and he was no more.

~~O~~

The funeral was quick and few people attended. He was buried alongside the rest of our family, and it would be a temporary resting place.

I would fight in the war, make a name for myself so I could have some measure of power, then I will make sure the world becomes a place where my family would be proud to live in.


	2. Stoney Sept, Part 1

I was dressed in a leather armor/dress hybrid in red and white, while I had my trusty white cloak with the embroidered stylized rose on the back. As I entered the camp of one of the Riverland lords I heard the whispers around me, until I came near a knight rallying the levies.

"... and you go- what in the seven hells is that?"

Said 'that' he was pointing at was me.

"I heard you were fighting the Mad King", I told the knight, "I came to enlist in the army."

The knight looked at me up and down, before sneering. "When we raised the banners we asked for sons, not daughters!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at his choice of words. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing", I said while controlling myself. "Still where do I go to wait my orders?"

"Are you daft woman? We don't need you here in the camp, unless you want to warm the bed of some of the soldiers." He let out a loud, cruel laugh and a few other soldiers followed him.

"Oh", I said with a sickeningly sweet smile, "perhaps I should warm your bed then, ser knight?"

He leered at me and was about to open his mouth, when I suddenly grabbed it in an iron like grip, before taking a step and throwing him away in a ballistic trajectory away from me.

"After all", I said with the same sickeningly sweet tone to the people around me who witnessed what I just did, "I'm going to fucking take it over, you sick fuck."

I turned around to the nearest man. "You! Where can I find the commander of this camp? I need to enlist here and I'm going to skip to the top."

The random mook points towards a large tent I'm a bit embarrassed I missed. Blushing I nod at him. "Thank you."

As I calmly walk there I see the witness of my feat part ways to let me walk. A few brave and stupid men try to stop me, only to meet a similar fate. Once I finally see the knight I had previously tossed aside we meet our gaze before I huff in annoyance and continue my walk. I can feel more than see the group of people coming behind me, either to make sure I won't escape or to watch the train wreck that's about to unfold.

As I reach the tent Lord Who-gives-a-damn appear. "What is this commotion?"

"I came to enlist to the army", I said to the man hopefully in charge.

He looked at me up and down. "You're a woman."

"Ser Whats-his-name remarked on that earlier", I said with a chuckle, "said he asked for sons not daughters. I made sure to make my displeasure know."

He looks past me at the gathered people, before the few people that I also tossed aside arrive limping. "My Lord! This woman attacked us!"

I shrugged, "they also didn't wanted to let me in. Before you order my arrest though, why don't you ask them what I did with those two buffoons? I think there's enough witness here to tell you what happened."

They suddenly became nervous, when one of them stepped forward with a limp. "She's a witch! Came to ensorcell you my Lord!"

"And how do I plan to do that, perhaps that's related to your limp, hmm?"

"What is happening here?" Said the Lord losing his patience. "I demand an explanation now!"

"It's better if I show you... and I just saw the perfect example."

As the group parted Ser Whats-his-name came strolling in, face red with rage before I went forwards. As he drew his sword I caught the weapon on the blade with my bare hand before once more grabbing at his face. I drag him back a few paces before looking at my target. Using all my strength I aim at a conveniently placed stack of hay for the horses far back in the camp and I throw him like a missile. Fortunately for him I hit my target cleanly.

Turning back to Lord Who-gives-a-damn I give him a radiant smile. "So, about enlisting in your army?"

He looked a bit pale from my demonstration, before he visibly calmed himself and his eyes became calculating. At least he's smart.

"What do you want? Are you a sellsword?"

I shrug. "Being paid _would_ be nice, but at this moment all I want is an excuse. Just lost the last member of my family and I'm itching for a fight to let out some steam, and decided that the Mad King men was a good target as any."

"I... see. So, standard pay for sellsword?" He said for a moment before looking at me, "and the standard kit for the soldiers. Do you have experience in command?" I shook my head. "Well, if you manage to distinguish yourself on the battlefield we can add some bonus to it. Sounds fair?"

I gave him a thumbs up with a wink and a smile. I held that position for seven seconds.

"... I will take that as a yes." He finally settled before looking around. "What are you all doing! Get back to what you were doing, now!"

The crowd quickly disperse before another knight/lord came in. "Ser Greenwood will give you your essentials while also showing you to our treasurer so he can have your name for you to be paid at the end of the campaign." He said before turning around. I could hear him mutter that he need a drink, before I turned to Ser Greenwood.

"So... where are we going next?"

The knight stared at me for a few moments before shaking his head. "We will meet with the other banners to march at Stoney Sept. It's not far from here."

Stoney Sept huh? Guess I'm not too late for the Battle at the Trident.

Skipping and singing a cherry tune, I readied myself for what's to come.

I can't wait!


	3. Stoney Sept, Part 2

We marched quickly, and the knight commanding my section of the army was a man of few words, but that was fine by me. I made sure to go to the front lines to be the first to fight against the enemy.

Still even with the fast pace of the march it felt like it was a casual stroll for me. Thanks to my aura and training I was faring much better than the levies behind me.

"Why do you want to fight?"

Looking at my side I saw a knight from another company? Section? Somewhere else. I didn't recognized him, but then again before coming here I had no ties with knights of any sort.

"I want to make a name for myself", I answered before looking back forwards, "I heard someone say once that if you kill a thousand men you can become a hero. If I want a say in how things are run, I need to start somewhere."

He barked out a laugh. "Only if you were a commander you could get that number, and only over several battles. It's not impossible for a skilled fighter to distinguish himself, or herself in your case, on the battlefield and be handsomely rewarded."

"I'm after more than mere money", I said with a grim tone. He looked at me for a moment before shaking his head and going back to his own duties.

Afterwards I focused more on the march, until we finally meet with the banners of the rest of the Riverlands and with the North. After some small reorganization of the army we continued our march towards Stoney Sept. Some more time later, we could see the hill of where the city was on the horizon.

My vision wasn't much better than before my aura was awakened, but it was still good enough to see the town walls from here. We weren't too far away now, and soon we would link with Robert's army.

~~O~~

Of course nothing goes according to plan, but for me this works just fine. As we came near the town we found out that the opponent's army was already there. Not wasting any time I did my thing and rushed ahead of the army by myself.

In a flash leaving a trail of white rose petals I arrived at the town and saw the place full of enemy soldiers.

Peeerrrrfect.

I drew my sword, and pulling up my hood I pointed at the nearest enemy before I _moved_.

One moment there was a group of soldiers there, the next five of them were hitting the ground as pieces of them fell down, from large parts of their bodies to whole and pieces of their heads.

"AAAHHHHHH!" Yelled one man before the top of his head separated from the rest, neatly cut from the middle of his mouth.

I paused for a single instant to clean up the blood of my blade with a simple sweep, before looking at another group of soldiers staring at me horrified, and once more I disappeared leaving a trail of white rose petals.

~~O~~

 _"What in the seven hells is happening?" Said one of the commanders of the loyalist army. "What's this fuss about?"_

 _"My Lord, there's something running along the streets killing our men!"_

 _"'Something'", said the commander in a disbelieving tone, "can't you be more specific than that?"_

 _"The surviving archers we positioned on the roofs watched a person wearing a white cloak with a red rose embroidered appearing on the street, disappearing from view before reappearing near a group of soldiers and their corpses falling on the ground in pieces. This feat repeated itself over and over starting from the north gate. The few that tried to take shots at this, this monster, meet the same fate."_

 _"Seven, such thing is impossible, you're talking about powerful sorcery here! What manner of man could do that?"_

 _"W-woman, my Lord."_

 _"What?"_

 _"T-the survivors of t-this massacre said the white cloaked person was w-wearing some kind of dress."_

 _"A Witch", whispered the commander, "the rebels have a witch in their ranks. Seven, what the world came to?"_

 _"My Lord!" Said another knight rushing at the commander, "the rebel army is coming in from all gates! They surrounded the town!"_

 _The commander cursed, "damn, someone inform the Lord Hand. We have to rally the soldiers!"_

~~O~~

As the army rushed inside the town I spent some time resting to catch my breath. I don't know how many of the enemy soldiers I killed, but it was a rather large number for a single person. A hundred? Two hundred? The only thing I know is that several streets and roofs have corpses laying around where I passed.

*whack!*

I rubbed my head from the pain of taking that arrow on my head, before turning myself to where the shot came and seeing the likely culprit. As the unfortunate archer noticed I saw him he took a step back before I was already at his side, sword mid swing cleaving at this head before once more I disappeared leaving a trail of white rose petals.

From my new vantage point I could see the fighting taking place on the streets, and I knew things would start to get complicated since I didn't knew who was an ally and who was an enemy in this chaotic melee.

Thus my focus would change from 'wanton slaughter' to 'precision strikes' with my speed and ability to basically bypass the enemy lines and reach the commanders. Then again the commanders of this time often fought personally so it will still be like finding a needle in a haystack, and trust me I _hate_ when that happens.

I need someone to identify the targets for me.

~~O~~

"Hey you, Baratheon or Targaryen?"

"AAHHH!" The knight I approached in the middle of the crowd of other soldiers jumped and turned to me. "Seven hells, where did you came from?"

"No time, I'm a sellsword fighting for the Riverlands army. Are you with the Baratheons or the Targaryens?"

While the good rule of thumb of 'whoever is in plate is a knight or Lord and thus an officer' helped tell me who I should focus my attention on, I couldn't just go around asking everyone if they were enemies or allies. I need something more concrete than that.

"Baratheon." He said, "well, actually it's Arryn. My name is Denys Arryn, newphew of Lord Jon Arryn."

Good enough. "I need someone to tell me which officers of the enemy army I should kill, since I don't know who is who. You just volunteered for that, unless you're doing something right now?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe _leading the troo_ \- what the?"

He was interrupted mid sentence as I caught an arrow that was coming straight for his face. "Excuse me for a moment", with those words I reappeared on the nearby roof and took down the archer hiding there.

"OH GODS SHE'S H-!"

*slink*

"SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!"

*slink* *slink* slink*

"RETREAT RETREAT R-"

*slink* *slink*

"Hey", I said back into the side of Denys, "so if you're too busy can you spare someone knowledgeable for me?"

"Bu, wha, WHUT?" He said looking back and forth from the roof and back to where I was.

"Yes, I did do what you just saw. Been doing this since I arrived at this town, please keep up. So, about my spotter?"

He stared at me hard, before shaking his head. "Cormwall, come here!" He said and another knight came running. "Accompany..."

"Rose."

"Rose to her self appointed task and tell us who is who in the enemy army. If she can repeat what she just did now we can kill the leadership and deal a massive blow to the enemy."

"I suggest barring the town gates so that the enemy can't escape. Without leadership they will be in chaos and it will be easy picking for us."

"I will tell Lord Stark of your suggestion", said Denys Arryn, "now go and help us win this war."

"Alright! Ser Cormwall, hang on!"

"Wha-"

Picking him up from the waist, I once more disappeared from the place leaving a trail of white petals.

~~O~~

 _"Who picked her up?" Said Denys to another knight at his side while they advanced through the town where the meele was growing thicker._

 _"Wasn't she supposed to be a sellsword from the Riverlands?"_

"Someone _would have heard of her if that was true, that or someone truly, undoubtedly pissed her off if she decided to come out of obscurity right now."_

 _A common foot soldier accompanying the group of knights looked at them. "At least she's on our side."_

 _The knights looked at each other before giving each other a grim nod._

 _Thank the gods, Old and New._

~~O~~

"... and that one is Lord Hand Jon Connington", whispered the knight as we were on the roof hiding, at our fourth or so raid when we struck gold. "You kill him and the army will be without leader. In fact a good portion of the leadership of the loyalists is nearby."

I nodded, "no rebel army around them? I can simply kill everyone in plate here and it won't kill anyone on our side?"

He peeked from behind the wall before nodding. "Nobody from our side reached this part of the town yet."

I grinned, and pulling up my hood I jumped down landing in clear view of the Lord Hand. "Hello Lord Hand", I said while waving at him with my left arm, before I was already at his side and he was falling down on the ground being cut from hip to shoulder into two halves.

"Good bye Lord Hand."

Those around me were stunned at the sight, silent and frozen at my display. I straightened up and gave them all a warm smile.

"You can panic now."

All hell broke loose, with some charging at me while others ran for it. In the end it was all the same, with them all falling to my blade. In a manner of moments the square I was standing was bathed with the blood and gore of the loyalist army. The rest would soon come attracted by the sound of combat and screams, but I think I had about three to five minutes.

As Ser Cormwall jumped down from the roofs himself he looked a bit ill at the display of carnage around me. "Hmm, I don't know if I should cut off the head of the commander to get a recompense or something. What do you think Ser Cormwall?"

"Don't worry, I will vouch for you to Lord Stark later. Shouldn't we be running now?"

I turned around and heard the reinforcements coming this way. "Yeah, let's go."

~~O~~

The battle raged for some more time before I could see a stream of people retreating to the gates, until they realized it was locked and barred. At this point the melee resumed for some more time, but soon the enemy soldiers surrendered as they realized that the larger part of their leadership rested in pieces, thanks to yours truly.

After rounding up the prisoners the battle was officially over, and I went to meet with the high command to make sure they knew what I did. As I approached them near the sept the place doors opened and someone in plate, yellow shirt with a black stag on the center and a helm with stag horns came to greet me.

"Hey you, are you a knight?" Said the obviously important man in front of me. I shook my head and he nodded. "Want to become one, right here right now?"

"Sure!" I chirped, nodding happily at him. "I'd love to!"

He took off his helm and I could see a rather handsome man with trimmed beard, short dark hair and blue eyes staring at me. I couldn't help but blush at the sight. "Somebody fetch me a sword so I can knight this woman! Name's Robert Baratheon by the way, I could see that you didn't knew who was who from the bell tower of the Sept."

"Charmed." I said still a bit hot. "Does that mean I got the attention of important people?"

He laughed. "Trust me, you got more than simple attention from the army!"

Great!

Phase one of my plan is a go!

Now if only I knew what phase two and three looked like...


	4. Battle of Trident, Part 1

"So... I'm a knight now", I said while rubbing the spot Robert had smacked me on the cheek after the knighting. Aura or no, pain still hurt.

"Looks like it", said Robert with a grim, "come and dine with us! You and Ned are the man, and woman, of honor today!"

Oh, what the hell. "Sure, why not? Lead the way."

As we approached the main camp I was greeted by the other knights and Lords of the rebel alliance. I didn't recognized anyone and there was no Sean Bean lookalike as a reference point.

"Ned! Here's the other hero of the battle!" Robert said while approaching a man with somber features, a somewhat long face and shoulder length black hair.

Ned Stark for his part nodded in acknowledgement to him before letting out a small smile. "Good to see you're well Robert." Turning to me he appraised me up and down, not in lust but to take my measure. "You were the one to suggest to close the gates."

Robert seemed surprised by that admission, and I nodded. "Better to deal with the army here without giving them the opportunity to retreat than let them retire from the fight and meet up with reinforcements later. Though I'm wondering how we're keeping all those people prisoner."

"There are ways", said an elderly man at Ned's side, "and conventions we uphold to so such things are possible without further bloodshed. Of course our total fighting ability will take a slight hit in order to contain the prisoners, but we are still in a much better situation than the enemy who basically routed."

"Hmm, well I know how to fight but I'm not well versed in war", not even my old man memories were a help there other than giving me a list of 'war crimes'. Things that people often did in wars to the detriment of the smallfolk that, in another world, people realized that it was a needless dick move.

Who knew huh?

"You claim to come from the Riverlands, didn't you?" Said another middle aged man, "where exactly did you come from?"

"There's a small village named Clover Ford on the river that goes north of Stoney Sept. I meet with some of the Riverlands banners camp in between Pinkmaiden and here."

"There should have been soldiers from that village from a lord of a small keep if I remember correct. Why did you came only now?"

"My father was sick at the time and I had to take care of him, being the only family he had and at the time I had no interest in the war. When he died though I decided to make a name for myself in the war. Lots of opportunities all told, and I rather not associate myself with the Mad King."

There were nods all around the table before Robert dragged me to seat at the place of honor at his left where Ned was at his right. "Now, a toast to the two heroes who made this decisive victory possible! To Ned and Rose!"

The Lords and Knights rose their cups and I raised mine before taking a small sip at the wine.

Too strong for my taste, I'm more used to watered ale for alcoholic drinks while my old man memories wasn't much of a drinker either. Still it was only polite to finish the cup. Eventually.

The whole table became silent for a few moments, and I'm fairly sure I knew some of the things that was going through the head of those men. Things like 'how come Robert knighted a woman', 'is she really a witch' and 'dear gods if she snaps we're all dead'. Surprisingly, it was Ned Stark who broke the silence.

"I heard the rumors, and it's hard to argue with the evidence", Robert grunted, "and eye witness of Robert himself, but can you truly do what those rumors claim?"

Looking at the table I saw a small knife, a loaf of bread and a pewter plate. "If the Lords and Knights present permit a demonstration?" I said while picking up the bread and the plate. I stared at them for a few instants, before jamming the bread into the plate and making a clear hole with the food, before tossing both pieces to Robert for him to inspect it.

He looked suspiciously at the bread, taking a tentative bite of it then put his finger through the hole of the plate. "Seven Hells, it's one thing to see it from the bell tower of the sept, another it is to see it face to face. I'm really glad you're on our side."

I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Since when did you discovered those... abilities of yours?" Asked another noble on the table.

"A few years back. I had to defend myself and those abilities awakened themselves on me. I don't know how or why though. One instant I'm down, the next I have super powers."

The noble nodded, and my old man memories supplied to me that often magic in ASOIAF is mysterious and unreliable, so they won't expect me to extensively know about aura, much less expect me being able to unlock it in other people. Of course some greedy moron would ask that anyway, this is ASOIAF after all.

"Do you have any plans after the war?" A knight asked, trying to sound casual and I could _feel_ all eyes turning to my side all at once, even Ned Stark.

"I have some plans, but nothing concrete." Was all I would answer.

"Bah! Stop interrogating the woman, she's not a doll to be paraded around and a normal lady for you all to try to sink your fangs on her!" Said Robert while fetching a pitch of wine.

"You're only saying that so you can get under my dress."

"Is it working?" He said while wriggling his eyebrows and I laughed.

"No, but I appreciate the thought."

"Explendid! Here, have some more wine!"

It was really transparent what he wanted to do, so I made sure to only very sporadically sip my wine. Different standards or no, I don't want to wake up with a hangover next day on Robert's bed.

I'm not that kind of girl.

~~O~~

March resumed and we went towards the north towards the Trident in order to meet with the rest of our forces and to march on the Kingsroad towards King's Landing.

A significant portion of the enemy army was still held by some of our forces. Apparently Robert managed to make some of them defect and joined our army. How he pulled that one off I will never know, though the rumors has it that he promised not to unleash the Bloody Rose, the Witch of the Riverlands on them.

My very first dreadful nickname, yay!

Preparations complete, we marched towards the crossing of the Trident when we saw the army of the enemy on the horizon.

"So... how do we go about it?" I asked Robert, as he insisted for me to accompany him during the march at his side.

"Scouts said they have a big army, but not big enough to trap us with our back to the river." He said behind his helm. "We should be able to cross our entire army before they arrive here. You're not good at command, are you? Or large scale tactics, right?"

I shook my head. "I know how to fight and kill, but my father never had the opportunity to show me how to fight alongside other people. Of course, even I know that with my abilities I can quickly reach behind the enemy lines and cause untold chaos on their rear. The Stony Sept wasn't a good indicator of my full capabilities since the enemy had plenty of places to hide and run. In this open terrain I should do much better."

I could feel Robert's grin behind his stag horned helm. "Oh, I have an idea or two on how to best use your abilities."

We watched the other Lords and Knights give their orders, and I did a light bow to Ned who would command his own forces. The same with Jon and Denys Arryn.

"Rose, can you promise me something?" Suddenly said Robert with a grave tone.

"What is it?"

"Let me have Rhaegar. The other commanders and soldiers can also manage to spot and even kill him with a bit of luck, but you're the only one that I know for certain can find and kill Rhaegar whenever you wish. So I ask you, let me have him."

I paused for a moment to think, before nodding. "Alright, I will take it as a personal favor to you though. Of course, if I see you fighting him and by some miracle you're losing, I will kill him myself and steal your kill. So for your sake you better not embarrass yourself."

He laughed, loud and hard. "Hah! Winter will freeze my balls seven times over before that happens, but if that's the case I will be in your debt."

"We have a deal then", I said with a grin of my own. "Say, if I happen to find you two fighting do you mind terribly if I make sure you two aren't disturbed?"

"Oh no, by all means please help yourself."

"Hmm, anything else I need to know? People I shouldn't kill or something?"

"It's a good bet some of the kingsguard will come to protect that damn Dragon", he snarled the last word, "if you find Ser Barristan the Bold please spare him. He's alright."

"I have no idea what he looks like."

He stared at me like I was crazy. "Where you living under a rock all those years not to know about Ser Barristan the Bold?"

"Smallfolk, remember? I might have heard of him before, but I never seen him."

Robert sighed. "Then just knock out any kingsguard you see. They wear white cloaks and white armor, should be rather distinctive."

"Got it. Any other requests? Should I bring you wine during the battle too? Perhaps a pair of beautiful twins to celebrate the victory later?"

Once more he laughed. "Just do your thing, 'Bloody Rose' and I will be happy. Though if you just so happen to come to my tent draped only in your cloak with a glass of wine I'm not complaining."

I hid my blush by pulling over my hood, readying myself for the battle. "It still not working."

"Hah, I wonder what would convince you!"

I shrugged. "Make me queen?"

Once more he laughed, but he didn't retort because we had to finish some last minute preparations.

Soon, the battle of the Trident would start.


	5. Battle of Trident, Part 2

I watched our group slowly reach charging distance from the enemy.

"Alright, I will take the guys on the left, you take the guys on the right."

"What", said the commander of the group. "What the bloody hells are you talking about woman?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine you baby, I will take the ones on the right, you take the ones on the left."

He was about to retort when another knight came near him and whispered on his ear. His eyes widened as he stared at me dumbfounded, and his aide returned to his previous position.

"Well?"

"... the ones on the left will be more appropriate, we can catch them in a pincer formation."

I gave him a thumbs up, "got it!"

When we finally reached charging distance I took a few steps forwards, just as I did that the horn sounded and people around me started running. I started a light jog before taking a deep breath, and suddenly I left in a trail of white rose petals, reappearing on the enemy formation well before our group took more than ten steps towards the enemy.

Pieces of bodies started falling around me, and for an instant people stood frozen at the sight.

Extending my sword I gathered my aura on the blade, and with a quick spin I unleashed the gathered aura around me in an explosion of light that cut apart and blasted the soldiers away leaving a small clearing around me. I felt my aura levels dip slightly, but it's still better than when I first trained this maneuver. Plenty of room for improvement but for the moment it's a good enough desperation move.

I continued my inexorable movement forwards, cleaving down the enemies that came towards me. Some ran as they saw their allies fall down like leaves on the wind, while others came at me with desperation in the eyes hoping that they would be the one to put me down, or at least would wound me enough so the next soldier could finish me off.

If it wasn't sad, I would think their attempts utterly adorable.

I spotted a knight and in an instant I cut him down, making the soldiers at his side jump in surprise and fear. In a whirlwind of speed I cut down the soldiers before jumping high in the air.

Up above I can see the soldiers and few knights staring at me transfixed at the sight of a woman jumping so high it felt like flying, before I brought my sword and with a burst of aura I spun towards the ground slamming the blade on the ground making a great shockwave and throwing the soldiers backwards.

More and more soldiers started to run away from me, and I let them go as I focused my efforts on those actively fighting me.

Thirty five... forty two... sixty one.

Well, it will be a long way until I hit one thousand. Better get to it.

~~O~~

 _"What's happening with our flank! It's starting to lose cohesion!" Said Ser Barristan the Bold to one of his officers._

 _"Ser! Looks like there's something there that's forcing the soldiers to rout, I can't really see it very well from here. I heard something about a 'witch' but nobody stayed to give more details."_

 _"Incoming enemy!" Said another knight as the wave of Rebel army finally reached Ser Barristan group._

 _"Seven Hells! Ser Ashwood, take a smaller group to reinforce the flank, at the very least send me a messenger to tell me what is going on." Said the Kingsguard before raising his own sword and charging his enemies. "For the King!"_

~~O~~

 _"One of the enemy infantry flanks is starting to lose cohesion", said Jon Arryn to his aide as he gave orders to the cavalry he was leading._

 _"Wasn't there were the Witch went? Must be her doing."_

 _Jon squinted his eyes, and he swore he saw a group of men being send high into the air._

 _"Yes, it must be. We can't have her do all the work now, can we?" Said Jon while drawing his own sword, "death to the Mad King! Death to the Dragons!"_

~~O~~

It was a good thing that once I awakened my aura I took my time to train it at every opportunity I could, specially as I mixed it with my swordsmanship training from father. It allowed me to become more efficient with aura use, push past my limits in a safe environment and make sure I actually knew how to use a sword.

Not only that, but it gave me much needed discipline to repeat a single strike over and over and over and _over_ again even as my limbs started to become tired and boredom started to set in.

Which was the only reason why I managed to keep up with my attacks. I mean, don't get me wrong killing isn't exactly fun, but at some point effortlessly killing the enemy forces starts to get repetitive so I took to varying my attacks from time to time as I went through the enemy troops like a scythe cutting wheat on the harvest.

I heard some loud rumbling sound from my right and I saw a company of cavalry coming at me, the knights in plate shining with the sun and their light reflecting on the armor. It was also fortunate that they were wearing the banners of the Targaryen, which was distinctive enough even I could spot them.

Cleaning my sword of blood I grabbed it in a reverse grip and I gathered aura into it, making the blade shine with power. Tapping into my semblance, I added more _power_ into it in an instant like I had trained so many times before.

"Rose..."

The cavalry came closer step by step, and when they were close enough I swung my blade forwards with as much force as I could muster.

"SLASH!"

A white blast of energy flew at prodigious speed towards them, wide enough to catch all riders in the company. As it hit them the energy attack seared and cut at their bodies, leaving a large trail of destruction as bodies cooked inside their armor from the light while at the same time being torn apart by the kinetic energy.

The few riders that were fortunate enough not to get caught in the attack were still near enough that their mounts either tripped or shook them away, some being trampled underfoot as the animals ran for their lives against this affront to natural order. I doubt they would panic nearly as much if someone had throw at them Wildfire itself.

I took a deep, steadying breath. That attack certainly made my aura take a noticeable dip, still a great improvement since the time when I invented this attack and was out of aura in a single blast. Granted I didn't attacked at full power, but I think I learned how to pace myself better now.

Turning around, I saw more soldiers staring at me in horror before dropping their weapons and deserting from the fight.

Since I can't really count how many routed since they saw me fight, I'm still at the low number of two hundred ninety five enemies killed, recent deaths included.

"Hah... long road to travel."

~~O~~

 _"What was that flash?" Asked the crown prince Rhaegar as he overlook the battlefield._

 _"I don't know", said a crownlanader knight, "it came from the left flank."_

 _"Where the dornish are?" Mused the prince, "I will let Prince Martell deal with it for now. How are our forces?"_

 _"We're even at the moment", said the knight much to the displeasure of the prince, "the numbers of the rebels were as great as ours and they appear to have a strong morale."_

 _Rhaegar frowned. Things should have been in their favor instead of being a hard fought battle. If only Jon weren't defeated, or if he at least managed to retreat in good order, then perhaps things would have been more in their favor._

 _"Jon my friend, what would you do right now?" He whispered to himself before he came to a conclusion, "we need to seek their commanders in order to break their morale. We will advance at once. There", he said while pointing at the flag on the distance, "we will fight against the Arryns. If we can kill both Lord and Heir it will shake Robert Baratheon."_

 _"At once my prince. Sound the horn!"_

 _With a last glance to where that strange flash of light came, Rhaegar turned on his mount before advancing._

~~O~~

I don't know how long I fought. Was it ten, twenty minutes? Was it an hour?

At some point killing and routing people started to become a chore, but I had to continue to make sure the enemy would be defeated and the rebels would win. I couldn't be everywhere, but I could sow as much disorder and damage as possible.

Even now several Knights and Lords fell to my blade, their superior armor choice doing nothing more than mark them as opportunity targets to me.

I also knocked out one kingsguard knight, but I wasn't sure if he was Ser Barristan so instead I simply took him back behind friendly lines as prisoner before going back to the thick of the fighting, going further back in the enemy lines to make sure I won't end up killing my own allies by mistake.

The song and dance continued, with the cycle of death and routing going on until I reached a shallow of the river, where cavalry was fighting against each other, and in there two figures could be clearly seen. Robert with his yellow shirt and stag horned helm and someone else battling him in deep black armor and a red cloak.

I made sure nobody came closer, the ones on our side not even bothering with me while the few that stood in my path were given a powerful blow on their armor as a warning, and a beheading if they were stupid enough. I was glad to see my allies knew I wouldn't let their leader die.

Robert warhammer dealt a blow to his enemy's horse, throwing Rhaegar into the ground. The Lord of Storm End tried to trample the Targaryen but the prince managed to dodge the attacks before standing up. As Robert tried to smash his head the prince managed to kill the horse but Robert jumped out of the animal before it fell.

Battle raged for some more time, until Rhaegar swung his blade ready to impale Robert...

... just as the peble I threw disarmed Rhaegar as Robert's warhammer smashed on his face, caving in the helm and crushing his skull. For good measure Robert did a double tap by smashing his chest, making a hole in the prince's breastplate.

I approached Robert and he was panting from the short bout. "Hey, how are you doing?" I asked him casually.

"... I totally could have killed him by myself", he almost snarled at me in what he thought was an intimidating manner.

"You probably could", I agreed, that's what happened according to my old man memories after all, "but you would have been hurt and I rather not have that on my conscience."

"Heh", he chuckled before spitting on the corpse, "it would have been worth it, to know I was better than him."

I shook my head. " _Boys_. I won't tell anyone if you don't, deal?"

He grunted but nodded.

"By the way, while you two were having your moment the enemy sounded the retreat, but it's more like a rout from where I saw the guys running. Our cavalry are running them down at this moment, that's what cavalry do, right? Kill the people running away?"

"One of it's duties", he said, "well, what are we standing here for? We have some clean up to do before we can celebrate!"

"Sure, it should also be just enough for me to complete one thousand kills." I said with a smile before turning away.

"... one thousand?"


	6. The King is Dead, Part 1

Not everything went according to plan during the battle.

A couple of Knights and Lords on our side died despite my efforts, including one's Jon Arryn, foster father of Robert and Ned, future Hand of King according to my old man memories.

To say Robert was mad with rage and grief was an understatement, but Jon insisted on leading the charge himself when a lucky arrow managed to hit him on the neck in the gaps of his armor. A lucky shot from a stray arrow.

Robert trashed around his tent, and we let him vent his frustration for a while before I got sick of it and I dragged both Robert and Ned to get shitfaced drunk. Why also taking Ned? Well, most people didn't realized it, or perhaps realized it and didn't want to intrude, but Ned took the death of Jon Arryn just as bad.

I couldn't fault them since going on this war was one giant bender for me to vent my frustrations on being born in this shitty land as a no name smallfolk in the region that saw the most conflict in the history of Westeros.

After a couple of drinks for me and some bottles between Robert and Ned, Denys came to the tent. "Do you have room for one more?"

"Come in and drink for Jon." Slurred Robert as he took another swing of the rich wine.

Denys sat on the extra chair before taking a generous swing at his cup. "Damn, he wasn't supposed to die. I was there with him when some of the Targaryens engaged with us. Rhaegar took a turn and went after Robert on the shallows while Jonothor Darry came after us."

He looked at his cup some time before continuing. "We were fighting when I tripped on a loose rock and the kingsguard came after me, but Jon came in front of me and took the blow parrying the attack. Before I could help Jon though Jonothor managed to wound him and leave him on the ground. I saw red when I saw my uncle on the ground and back stabbed the son of a whore as he tried to finish the job."

Taking another swing of his drink he tried to fight back tears. "It should have been me who died, not him!"

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "You're his family right? He wouldn't have wanted you to die, just like you didn't wanted him to die. Don't blame yourself and instead do good with the life Jon gave to you."

At least that's what I wanted to say. I was way past tipsy at that point, but he nodded and opened another bottle of wine.

"Damn, I still remember him scolding me for doing something stupid back in the Eyrie, telling me 'why don't you have some more foresight like Ned, Robert' to me."

Ned for his part chuckled before taking a sip of his own drink. "And all too often I heard him saying 'you should be more bold like Robert, Ned'."

"Sounds like a peachy guy." The trio looked at me before I clarified, "I meant 'an excellent person'."

They all nodded before Robert rose his cup. "To Jon Arryn!"

"Aye!" We said rising our own cups before downing them.

We stayed silent for some time before Robert spoke. "Want to know what could cheer me up?" He said before staring at me, "you."

"Still not working!" I yelled flustered at his remark.

Both Denys and Ned dope slapped Robert in solidarity.

~~O~~

The army marched forwards towards King's Landing. Someone suggest I could go ahead and either kill off the king on my own or at least open the gates.

"Go for it." Said Robert, "do what you think is best. Just make sure to leave some of the fighting to us. We will probably have to pound on the Lannisters at some point if the rumors I heard are true."

Thus I took some supplies, put them on a bag and went ahead of the army, running for as long as I could before settling myself to a decent walk down the kings road.

The city smelled awful to say the least, I could smell it from a good way out when the wind blew in the right direction.

Not wanting to draw too much attention to myself I took off my cloak and put it in the bag, before looking around the city walls for the perfect place to infiltrate the walls. Insertion point chosen, I entered with a swift run on the walls and a single leap. I took down the watchers and dropped their bodies outside the walls, before silently sneaking inside the city.

Once there I made my way to the castle, and once asking a few directions to the locals I knew exactly where I should go. In no time I was on the steps of the red keep, ready to make history. Now, to ham it up all the way, or be sneaky about it?

I took a coin and flipped, letting chance decide how history would play out.

~~O~~

"Aerys Targaryen! Your reign of terror is over! This is Ser Rose, The Witch of the Riverlands, the Bloody Rose who came to take you down!" I said after I literally blasted open the gates of the Red Keep. I calmly walked towards the throne room with my white cloak billowing behind me, taking down any opposition I meet in a quick fashion until I saw the Iron Throne.

I never saw it before, and my old man memories supplied a much more modest throne than _this_. The actual Iron Throne was a massive monstrosity that almost went to the ceiling made of thousands of rusted swords. How the hell people didn't routinely catch tetanus from it I will never know. Or perhaps they do and their bodies are simply discreetly disposed off?

The man sitting on the throne looked rather terrible in my opinion. Large uncut nails, disheveled hair and what I can only call a demented look on his face.

"Another traitor came to us. Seize her!"

I made sure to hold back a little with my display, not that I didn't kill the guards that were ever flowing on the room in increasingly gory ways, but I also left some of them alive if retired from the battle in order for them to eventually spread the word of what I did.

At some point in the carnage people stopped coming in and instead simply blocked off the exit and watched me.

"Come! Come and defend your king you traitors! You! Lannister, defend me!"

My old man memories supplied to me some choice bits of information from the man in front of me, the youthfulness and blond hair telling me who the Lannister kingsguard was.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked him. "As someone close to the Mad King you should know his crimes intimately, is it worth to fight for him?"

He seemed to hesitate a bit, but grimly he took his weapon and nodded. "Still, I have to try." Even as he said that his stance was done half hearted. He saw me fighting, so he knew I could take him down easily. Perhaps he expects me to show him mercy by allowing him to live?

I mused the idea for a while before sheathing my sword for a moment. That move startled him, which was when I suddenly appeared on his face and kneed him on the stomach hard enough to dent armor, my standard practice to 'non-lethally' taking down armored opponents. He fell on the ground grasping for air before emptying the content of his stomach.

Once more I unsheathed my sword. "Your sword will enter into history dad", I whispered as the Mad King tried to scramble backwards on the throne. Once we were set eye to eye I took in his appearance fully, how the Targaryens rule had fallen so hard with both him and Rhaegar. In a swift move I plunged my sword on his chest, killing him instantly.

I cut off his head and raised it as if it was a trophy. "The Mad King is dead! His heir Rhaegar is dead! The reign of the Targaryens is over!"

My old man memories told me that there was still Aegon and Viserys, but they were both children at the moment. We could easily send them to the Wall and be done with it. Speaking of them...

"Until Robert Baratheon comes to the city to officially end the war I'm taking over! Whoever disputes my claim can take that up with me! Whoever wants to seek revenge for the Mad King can join the fallen! I am the Witch of the Riverlands, the Bloody Rose! If you heard and witnessed my prowess you know going against me is death! Who wants to try their luck?"

The soldiers hesitated, some rushing elsewhere, until suddenly I saw the soldiers throwing their weapons on the ground. Good, that will make things easier. Now I just have one loose end to take care off.

"Hey you, blondie, you alive there?"

"... no thanks... to you." He wheezed before standing up and cleaning his mouth.

"Good, because I have a mission to you. Where are the wife of Rhaegar and his children?"

"You don't plan to-"

"What I _plan_ is to secure them to make sure they won't go anywhere until Robert arrives with his army. You can help me with making sure they are well treated, or you can force my hand in taking more drastic measures." I threatened.

"... you won't kill them, will you?"

"No", I told him honestly, "and I will do everything in my power to make sure she won't come to harm."

The kingsguard took a deep breath, managing to unclasp his armor to allow him to breath more easily before nodding. "Alright Witch, you have yourself a deal."

"Ser Jaime", said one of the soldiers and he shook his head.

"You saw what she did. I doubt a hundred of soldiers could stop her. Seven hells, I think a hundred soldiers _did_ try to stop her and failed. If I want to save the lives of the last of the royal family it's best if I go along with her."

I nodded to him. "At least someone who see sense. Alright Ser Jaime, lead the way so I can explain the situation to Rhaegar's widow."

Things will be a bit touch and go for a while since I can't project much force as a single person, but hopefully with Jaime at my side I can get shit done until Robert arrives. Still, I can't help but think I'm forgetting something...


	7. The King is Dead, Part 2

"Hmm, I can't help but think I'm missing something", I said to Jaime while lounging on a chair on the throne room. "Anything came up to mind?"

The kingsguard shrugged. "Well, there's still one of Brandon Stark friends in the dark cells rotting there. I think his name is Ethan Glover."

"Really?" I said surprised at the news, my old man memories said nothing about it, "well then, take him out of the cell and let him see a healer. I will bring some warm soup to him later."

"The Witch who stormed the Red Keep and slew a hundred men before taking down the mad king serving soup to a former prisoner", remarked Jaime dryly, " what the world had came to."

"What a charming, bright personality you have", I replied in kind, "anything else I might be forgetting?"

"Since when I became your aide?"

I just stared at him, raising an eyebrow and daring him to say anything.

"... the city watch won't rise against you, and as you already know Elia decided to stay in the castle and risk her luck instead of facing your immediate wrath."

"Good", I nodded, "running away will only make her die tired. I'm sure I can convince Robert to be merciful enough not to kill her and her children. She is after all as much a victim of the war as anyone else here."

"I wish I had your optimism Witch."

I dismissed him before going to the kitchen to get something for myself. I wouldn't hold against some people to try and poison my food, and while I give myself good odds to survive most poisons due to aura healing I don't want to try my luck with it yet, so I'm going to make my own food.

A simple dish with vegetables and some slices of salted meat on a pan and I had my lunch before I went over a mental inventory.

Varys I couldn't do much at the time, because then people would ask why I singled him out of all people to kill and I didn't wanted to kill the rest to cover up. Killing during battle is one thing, but I rather not take the habit of killing people in cold blood like that.

I couldn't send a raven to Storm End since Stannis would require the signature of his own brother to be sure of the situation on the war. Still things will probably go according to my old man memories, better most likely.

Still talking with Jaime made the feeling that I was still forgetting something return.

...

"OH SHIT THE WILDFIRE!"

~~O~~

It was good enough that some nobles still in the court were the kind of opportunistic sycophants that they took my lead and helped me project force across the city, and I was glad that Jaime took charge of the city watch alongside the pyromancers to take care of the caches of magical FOOF scattered across the city. Jaime came back extremely pale afterwards.

"Even if nobody lit off the wildfire, if forgotten it would be only a matter of time before that damn thing ignited on it's own." He said once he finished cleaning the wildfire a couple of days later, "good foresight on that one."

"I assumed that Aerys would want to spite the rebellion leaders by burning down King's Landing. He _was_ called Mad King after all, I wouldn't put something like that past him."

Jaime nodded. "Elia gives her thanks for saving the city and the lives of everyone."

"She's welcome." I told him before sighing. "I just wish Robert arrived sooner. You said your father would soon come?"

"Yes", he said with a grin nod, "hopefully my father won't try to seek revenge for the death of the Mad King, or something equally asinine. Granted the king wasn't his favorite person due to the whole me being an hostage thing, but you never know with father what kind of scheme he have in mind."

"Ser Jaime", said a soldier entering the throne room and once seeing me he hesitated, "we can see the Lannister army on the horizon."

I palmed my face at those news. Great, just what I need, a big distraction to allow for Varys shenanigans. Should have killed the man earlier. I still can if I rush.

~~O~~

"Halt, who goes there?" I asked to the messenger who came to the gates.

"I'm a messenger from Lord Tywin. His Banner number more than ten thousand, we request safe passage to the capital."

"The Mad King is dead", I told the messenger, "I killed him myself. Swear allegiance for the rebels alliance and wait for them there, outside the city. When they arrive you can parley with them."

"The Mad King is dead?" He said in surprise.

"Yes, I killed him myself. Do keep up, would you? Now get back to your liege Lord and tell him the news."

I ended up playing messenger tag most of the day until I brought Jaime himself to talk sense to his father, even if they never meet face to face.

Let's just say that Tywin was very skeptical of my claims even with Jaime's backing.

"And I tell you again that you can wait for Robert and Ned's arrival to swear allegiance to them [I]outside[/I] the walls. It's not like I don't trust you Lannisters, but I don't trust you Lannisters."

"You just said it wasn't like you didn't trust us!"

"It's a figure of speech!" I yelled in frustration, "Just tell Tywin the Witch of the Riverlands holds King's Landing for Robert Baratheon damn it!"

I turned back to meet with Jaime. "Think your father will finally get it?"

He shook his head. "You don't know my father."

~~O~~

 _"The Witch of the Riverlands?" Said Tywin in his command tent outside the walls. "Never heard of her. Must be a northern lady, they do have their own warrior women just like the dornish. How many men do you think her banners have?"_

 _"My Lord", said the knight, "as far as rumors goes, she's not commanding an army. It's just a single woman."_

 _Tywin frowned. "A single woman infiltrated the Red Keep and killed the King? I didn't knew the rebels had the funds to acquire the services of the Faceless Men." That was a miscalculation on his part, thought the Lannister Lord. "If that's the case there's no reason not to speculate that they have access to larger sellsword companies at their disposal. Getting into the city now is more vital than ever." He said to his brother and aide Kevan Lannister._

 _"Tywin", said Kevan a bit unsure, "I heard_ things _from some of the soldiers that escaped the Stoney Sept. Something about a Witch that reaped their numbers like the Stranger himself, impervious to arrows and swords, who would appear and disappear just as easily after extracting her price in blood."_

 _"And next you will tell me this 'witch' commands an army of snarks and grumkins", growled Tywin. "We must enter the city and take it for ourselves. With the death of Rhaegar and the death of Aerys it is the only way for us to be on the good graces of the rebels. We must have some leverage for it."_

 _"Is it so bad", tried Kevan, "to merely bend the knee to Robert? Storm End is also being besieged by he Tyrells, if we lend our strength he will certainly look at us favorably."_

 _"That won't be enough. I have plans that require us to be on the good graces of the most likely to take up the crown after this is all done. Our army is fresh, but relatively minor compared with the rebels, if we join them we will be at best a welcome help, but not a vital one."_

 _Now was Kevan's turn to frown, "then what do you suggest? Your thoughts on this matter aside, the people inside the walls, even your son, think she is genuine that's why she's holding it even if she's a single person. Besides if you take the city by treachery the Witch will tell Robert of what you did."_

 _"Then we have to kill that witch."_

~~O~~

"Why I'm not surprised", I deadpanned as I heard the news of Tywin entering after someone opened the gates and immediately starting to sack the city.

"Damn it father! Robert's army isn't too far away either, the ships saw them approaching! This will be a bloodbath!"

I sighed, "nothing can change that now. Jaime, stay here with a group os soldiers and defend the princess and the children. I will try and put a stop to this."

" _Alone?_ "

"Hmm, you're right, the city is larger than Stoney Sept after all. Lots of places to spread the troops. Still I will see what I can do. What your father looks like? Don't worry I won't kill him."

Once more Jaime hesitated, before replying. "Bald, bushy side-whiskers and green eyes. He usually wears deep crimson armor highlighted with gold and a gold cape."

"Got it, perhaps him being held prisoner will make the army outside stop this foolishness. By the way, I'm going to try and send some people here later to protect them from the sack, and you're in charge. See ya."

~~O~~

 _"Burn down everything!" Yelled a Lannister soldier as he saw his men steal, kill and rape to their heart's content. "Leave no stone unturned!"_

 _"What's that?" Asked another soldier, and he saw a woman in some strange dress and leathers combination wearing a white cloak. Before he could utter another word however his vision split in two, and the two halves of his head hit the ground at the same time._

 _In a flurry of white petals, more and more soldiers fell down in a gory fashion._

 _"Find the city watch! Go to the Red Keep! Tell them the Witch of the Riverlands sent you!" She yelled as she passed through the smallfolk she saved._

 _Bringing salvation and death whenever she walked, the streets became white and red as the Bloody Rose passed through them._

~~O~~

 _"Ser Gregor, look!" Said Ser Amory Lorch as they approached the castle. They saw a woman with a white cloak coming at them from the distance. "I think that's the witch we're supposed to kill."_

 _"Pretty", said Gregor, "I will stuff her full with my cock before strangling her with my own hands."_

 _"Oh", said a feminine voice from behind him, "care to repeat that?"_

 _Gregor turned behind him, and saw the cloaked woman that was far away now right at his face. Before he could react further however she swung her blade lightning fast. An instant later his body started to fall into smaller pieces as blood pooled on the ground._

 _"Seven hells!"_

 _That was the last thing Ser Amory Lorch said before his head fell off on the ground._

~~O~~

"TYWIN!" I yelled as I finally found him. "Come here you coward!"

Of course I said that mostly as an intimidation factor since I was coming to him myself. Cutting down soldiers and knights alike, I made a beeline towards Tywin without pausing or showing any effort against the waves upon waves of bodies being thrown at me.

He drew his sword and came to me alongside a few of his soldiers. I knew he wanted to run away, but I left him no option to run but _through_ me. Not wanting to wast any more time as I had already demoralized enough the nearby soldiers and knights. In an instant I was in front of him and I kneed him on the stomach in my signature non-lethal subduing move, before placing my blade at his neck.

"Call off your army, or Casterly Rock will have a new Lord." I drew some blood from his neck, before he calmed himself from the coughing fit and through gritted teeth he nodded.

"Kevan", he said to a knight also fallen on the ground, "tell the soldiers to stop the sack."

"At once", Keven answered, shaken at my sight.

"As for you", I said while grabbing at him by the scruff of his neck, "you're coming with me."

With a twist of his arm I brought him back to the Red Keep, parading him to the soldiers as he issued the officers to stop the sack. It was a good thing I targeted more the soldiers than the officers this time around, both because it was them doing the blunt of the sacking and raping, and because it left people to give command to stop this madness.

Once in the castle I brought him to the dungeons, with instructions to treat him well since I'm not into torturing people, no matter how much I think they deserve it.

After order was finally restored I grabbed some food for myself and waited for the arrival of the rebel army. Robert can't come sooner to fix things.


	8. The Tower of Joy, Part 1

"Seven damn it Robert! What are you doing?" I yelled to him. I really should have put more stock on my old man memories, but I certainly couldn't imagine the man who approved of the deaths of the princess and her children as 'dragonspawn' was the same Robert Baratheon I fought and drank with.

"I'm going to finish what I started Rose, get out of the way!"

I was holding the taler man from reaching Elia's room. "You're going to murder defenseless woman and children Robert! Just think for a moment what you are doing!"

"She's right Robert", said Ned with more heat than usual, "there's no honor in that, it will be nothing but butchery. We [I]won[/I], the Targaryens rule is over. There's no need to spill more innocent blood."

"I won't stand as the last of the dragonspawn and his whore are still alive!"

At this I let him go, and he stumbled on the ground a few paces forwards. This alarmed Ned for a moment before Robert regained his balance and he stood up once again.

Just for me to slap him so hard to draw some blood, and he once more fell on the ground, shocked at my move.

"Listen to yourself Robert! The hero of the rebellion who fought against the tyranny of the Targaryens, the one who killed the kidnapping, rapist Rhaegar is now advocating killing women and children! Is that the hero you want to be?" I yelled him just as he spit some blood and glared at me. "I'm going to call that favor right now."

"You can't honestly believe what I owe you that much from that alone?" He said with an incredulous look.

"Even if you ignore that debt you know you owe me much more than that." I told him and he tried to hide his wince, "but I won't ask you something outrageous. What I want you to do is to sit down, take a deep breath, _calm yourself_ and take a decision based on what is best for the rebels and the realm, taking into account the counsel of people you trust. In other words, _act responsible_."

I took a deep breath. "I don't know about war, and perhaps even after my request she might end being killed, but I don't want you to make such important decision while angry." I said while holding up my hand. "Can you do that? For me?"

He looked at my hand and for a moment I thought he would reject it, but after a few instants he took it and stood up. "Fine, I can at least make a proper decision when not angry."

"Thank you!" I said with a smile before kissing him on the cheek, "here, all better now."

"Does that mean-"

"No."

"Che", he said earning a light chuckle from Ned, tension leaving us for now. "Alright, we still need to deal with the other Targaryens who fled to Dragonstone."

I nodded with a sigh. "If only there was a way for them not to be heirs or something without further bloodshed or clashing of armies. Do you nobles have any laws about dethroning that doesn't involve shoving a sharp piece of steel through their chests?"

"There... might be a way." Allowed Ned, "don't you have Targaryen blood yourself Robert? After the war is finally over we can call a grand council to legitimize you over Aegon or Vyseris. At worst we can send them to the Wall."

"That's one solution", muttered Robert, "now I just have to figure out what to do with Tywin."

I shrugged. "Do whatever you want, I will just remind you that he appeared to be important-"

"He's the Lord Paramount of the Westernlands", interjected Ned.

"- he _is_ someone important so whatever you decide will consequences, but frankly I'm not feeling very charitable to the guy who ordered the _pillaging, killing and raping_ of the city. Something I do not approve regardless which side he is on." I told the two, and they nodded, taking the hint.

"Well, I will have time to deal with those headaches later. I will send a raven to Storm End saying the king is dead so you can lift the siege for me Ned. You're the only one I trust to do this without Jon Arryn", he said the last with a bit of pain, "and Rose doesn't have experience for command since I will need you to send supplies to Stannis."

Ned stared at his friend for a moment, before giving him a grim nod. "I will do it, but I won't return here. I will go directly to search for my sister."

I coughed, getting their attention. "You know, I _could_ go and find her, you know? Even if I don't find her by the time you're done you can still search for places I missed."

"I'm her brother", said Ned firmly, "it's my responsibility to look for her."

"And you're not avoiding your responsibilities", I told him, "I'm _volunteering_ to go ahead. I'm sure your sister will understand."

"Great idea!" Said Robert suddenly, "you do that Rose. You can meet with Ned later after he finishes with the siege."

Ned tried to protest, before sighing. "I suppose Robert have a point, but I would still want some of my bannermen to accompany you."

I nodded. "That's fine, ask for up to ten volunteers to ride with me. I'm find her as fast as I can. Speaking of which, did Varys have any clue on where she could be? Heard he was Master of Whispers or something."

"He said she was most likely in Dorne, but other than the Kingsguard that is not here probably no one else knew where she is." Said Robert bitterly.

Oh well, guess I will need to look and ask around Dorne. Hopefully I will get a clue on where the Tower of Joy is without tipping my companions.

~~O~~

The tip came, out of all places, from Elia herself.

"I have no love for that wolf... woman", she said at some point, "but I can't deny that Rhaegar started all this. If he had crowned me the queen of love and beauty in that tournament, none of this would have happened."

"But why are you helping me?" I couldn't help but ask, "you shouldn't feel that much better about Robert since he did killed your husband and tried to kill you and your children."

"You protected us from his fury", she answered simply, "and while I fear the rebels as a whole might still try to kill me and my own, I'm certain that if you didn't do anything Robert would certainly kill me."

"I'm sorry I can't do much", I said to her, "I might be strong enough to force the issue for a while, but unless I commit myself to killing anyone that disagrees with me I can't do much, and I don't want to be remembered as someone who's no better than the Mad King. At least they know my position on this matter and will take my wishes into consideration."

"That's far more than I expected", she admitted, "thank you for that. Now go and rescue the wolf maiden and finish this foolish war."

With those words in mind we reached the Tower of Joy, and there guarding the place were what my old man memories called 'The Tree Stooges'. Actually, let's voice those thoughts into words.

"So that's where the Three Stooges were hiding", I said loud enough for them to listen to me. I patiently let them come out of the tower to meet with us.

"Who goes there?" Said one of them.

"We're Stark Bannerman", said Greatjon Umber who insisted to accompany me in this task, "and with the aid of the Witch of the Riverlands we came here to rescue Lyanna Stark!"

"You sick fucks", I corrected him and he nodded.

"Aye, you sick fucks."

There was some sound above in the tower, before someone came out of the window. "Ned! Are you there?"

I looked up. "Hey, you're Lyanna? Sorry that Ned himself couldn't come, he's a bit held up at the moment so I told him I would rescue you on his regard. He's worried sick about you, you know? He will cry tears with joy once he finds out you're well and fine."

"She's not going anywhere." Said stooge two, "we were tasked to protect Lyanna Targaryen."

...

Shit.

"Please tell me you didn't do what I think you did Lyanna!" I yelled at the stupid, stupid, _stupid_ girl.

At least she looked appropriately uncomfortable at my glare. "I'm sorry!" She said, "it's a long story, but those three won't let me go of here!"

Good enough for me. "Well, you heard the lady", I told the kingsguard, "she wants to go home. Now, I should tell you that Rhaeger and Aerys caught a terminal case of dead so I would really appreciate it if you three let us pass."

Stooge one stepped forwards. "Nobody will pass while we draw breath. If Rhaegar and the King are truly dead, that means prince Aegon is the king, though the one likely to hold regency is the Queen Dowager Elia Targaryen."

"And who the hell tipped us off to where you might have been, you _dumb_ fucks?"

"Nevertheless", said stooge three, "we will follow the last order of Rhaegar, to our dying breaths."

Well, I did tried to be diplomatic. "Hey Lyanna, wanna see something cool?"

"Something cold?"

I shook my head. "Nevermind, just watch this." I turned to the three stooges. "Which one of you are the best swordsman, I challenge you to a duel!"

The three stooges looked at each other before looking past me. "Aren't you going to come after us yourselves?"

Greatjon laughed. "Oh no, I find this whole thing hilarious! Please go ahead don't mind us."

Howland Reed smirked at seeing their confusion. "You three didn't get the news about the Witch of the Riverlands or the Bloody Rose, did you? I don't know if I should pity you or feel amused by this whole thing. Actually, amused sounds about right."

I stepped forwards a little and pulled down my hood, letting them clearly see my face and they became surprised. After all it wasn't often when they saw a girl barely into her adulthood leading a party of bannermen, let alone when said bannermen allows her to go alone on her own to challenge the kingsguard, some of the finest knights in the realm.

"Well, who out of you three is the best swordsman?"

Stooge one stepped forward. "If I may, Lord Commander?" Stooge two nodded. "I am Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of Morning. I shall be your opponent."

I looked at him up and down before nodding. "Alright then Ser Arthur, here's how things are going to go. Since I'm feeling charitable I will give you one chance to make it counts." He tilted his head at the strange choice of words I gave him. "You're going to get that pretty sword of yours and hit me as hard as you can."

"... what?"

"Now hold on, you might have misheard me." I interrupted him as I stared him intently in the eyes. "Not half as hard, not some arbitrary amount. I want you. To hit me. As Hard. As. You. Can."

"And if I don't do that?"

"Then you might be nearly as much of a pussy as the prince."

He grit his teeth and pulled out his sword from his back, and with a yell he swung at it towards my neck which I caught the blade with my left hand, surprising him.

"What? How!"

Not answering him I kicked him on the chest, sending him flying backwards behind stooge two and three, rolling on his back before hitting the sword on the ground to stop his momentum. Looks like he's a cut above the other people I fought. Just as he regained his balance the other kingsguard took off their weapons with murder on their eyes.

"So this is what the best of you three can do? I was expecting better." I said while shaking my head. "Anyway Ser Arthur, I'm going to give you another chance. You. Me. As hard as you can. Did you get that?"

He slowly made his way to me getting past the other two stooges, spitting to the side before once more gripping at his weapon. With grim resolve he charged at me, swinging at my neck. This time I just stood there as his sword hit my neck with all his strength.

Only to do jack shit.

His eyes widened, and he took a step back.

Unsheathing my own weapon and holding it with my two hands at the side, I coated my sword with aura and my semblance, enough for it to be visible. I gave him a warm smile. "When you reach the seven hells, tell Aerys the Witch of the Riverlands sends her regards."

I made it painfully obvious how I would swing my blade, and Arthur held his sword in a defensive position by instinct. When the power in the blade reached a certain point, I _swung_.

From obviously telegraphed movement to impossibly fast sword swing in an instant, man, armor and sword were cut in half. Well, more like a large piece of their mid section was suddenly missing, alongside the left rock formation near the tower being blasted away as loose rock and gravel flew towards the mountain range.

Hmm... took a lot more aura than I thought it would. Must refine the technique more.

"So... who's next?"

To their credit they didn't soiled themselves, but both knights took an instinctive step back.


	9. The Tower of Joy, Part 2

_Lyanna Stark had just fought and defeated the squires bullying the wounded crannogman. Offering her hand he stands up, ashamed of himself. "My lady", he murmurs, "you shouldn't have involved yourself in this."_

 _"Nonsense", said Lyanna, "you're Howland Reed, right? One of father's bannermen."_

 _"Aye", he nodded, "inherited after hearing the news from my father". He said the last while his voice broke a little._

 _"I'm sorry for your loss", she said with sympathy, "but you shouldn't had come here to drink alone. At the very least share your grief with your friends."_

 _Reed sighed. "I should have done that, but I came here only as a friend to your brother and not as a greater guest. I didn't want to drink on the lower tables and let them see my grief."_

 _"Well, that's silly. Come, I will bring you to the table where my father and brothers are sitting. You're one of our most important bannerman now that your father is dead, you deserve to be seated at the place of honor."_

 _As she led the wounded and half drunk Lord towards the feast she felt eyes watching them. Looking around she saw no one, but the lingering feeling that she was being watched remained._

~~O~~

 _Quickly taking out the mismatched armor she looked around to see if there was someone watching. Finding none she sighed in relief._

 _"Impressive matches", came a voice from behind the tree she was taking off her armor. She quickly held her sword before the man revealed himself._

 _"Peace", said the man, "I was just going to congratulate you on your performance, and perhaps know a bit more about the mystery knight. I assure you, I have no intention of divulging the identity of the Knight of the Laughing Tree to my father."_

 _"Prince Rhaegar?" Lyanna said in surprise, almost dropping her sword. "What are you doing here?"_

 _"Didn't I tell you?" He said with a smirk making Lyanna glare at him. "I saw you beforehand, defending the crannogman from the squires, and then later with you winning against the knights. Quite impressive for a lady like you, is that the famed reputation of the ladies in the North, who are trained to defend their homes and to fight, much like in Dorne?"_

 _"Well, yes. More or less I suppose. Father allows me to train with the sword and to ride, but he also wanted me to act like a proper southorn lady in order to get a proper marriage for me", she said the last with bitterness in her voice._

 _"It's a shame", he said surprising her, "after all having a strong lady such as yourself would be part of the charm in the first place."_

 _Against her better judgment, Lyanna blushed at the praise. Robert had always praised her for her beauty and grace, which were mercilessly drilled into her since an early age, but honestly she didn't knew how he would react if she knew his 'dear Lyanna' sometimes acted like a man. She wasn't a 'man in a dress' by any means, she did liked some traditionally proper lady like pursuits after all, but in her opinion she was far from an ideal southorn lady._

 _For someone to say her real self had a charm and was a desirable trait in itself, and apparently meant it? She didn't knew what to say._

 _"My prince is too kind", she finally settled, sword fully lowered as the blush in her face refused to disappear._

 _"Please Lady Stark, we're between friends here. Call me Rhaegar."_

 _Lyanna allowed a smile to appear. "Then by all means, call me Lyanna."_

~~O~~

"Where were you when you and Rhaegar disappeared?" I asked the woman in front of me.

"I had run off from home." She admits. "Technically speaking. Me and father had a fight about my future marriage, and I told him I would go to the neck to meet with Howland Reed, one of the few people I considered friends since after the tourney of Harrenhal."

I paused for a moment, something clicking in my head. "You and the prince were sending letters to each other."

"Yes", she admitted with eyes downcast. "My father caught on that and that's how I decided, more like threatened, father to allow me to go to the neck to cool my tempers a little. He had sent me with an escort there, men of confidence, but at some point I ditched them. The meeting with Rhaegar at that point had been pure chance."

~~O~~

 _"Tears don't befit you, wolf maiden", said the prince as Lyanna told of her reasons to have come down this far south. "I'm certain that your father can be reasoned with. Perhaps change the betrothal with someone else, or at least delay it until your father can properly realize how Robert can't make you happy."_

 _"He would have none of it. Robert is the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands now, and while sweet Ned assures he will be a good husband Ned is often naive and wishes to see the good in everyone, and as much as he claims I'm stubborn he can be even worse than me in that regard."_

 _"I see", he said, mulling over his head, "then perhaps I may have a solution."_

 _"Which is?"_

 _"Come with me."_

~~O~~

"And that's when you decided to go with him, without even a 'by your leave' to the group escorting you, or even to Howland Reed which you were supposed to meet."

At my accusation the woman eyes started to water, but she held back tears and nodded.

"I didn't wanted to marry Robert, and Rhaegar provided me with a good opportunity to avoid all of this. He had promised me he would send a raven to my father and to Reed that I would be traveling with him. We stopped at small keeps on the way, so I didn't had reason to believe he didn't honored his promise."

"Once we arrived at King's Landing we stayed here for less than a week and I was introduced to his wife. Suffice to say she didn't liked me."

"Seven, I wonder why." I said with as much sarcasm as I could bring.

"Rhaegar asked me if I would marry him, saying there would be no better honor than the daughter of the Lord Paramount of the North to marry the crown prince. At the time I was still angry with my father, and in an impulsive decision I accepted. I think I had also deluded myself that while his heirs would come from Elia, Rhaegar actually loved me more."

"So wait, you were against Robert chasing skirts with other woman, but you somehow were alright with Rhaegar having another woman? Worse still, with [I]you[/I] being the other woman in the relationship?"

"In hindsight, it wasn't one of my best moments."

"I'm repeating myself at this point, but _no shit_ woman!"

~~O~~

 _"Why didn't we held the ceremony at the Godswood in King's Landing?" Lyanna asked the prince, seeing only the three Kingsguard that accompanied them to Dorne and where the only witness to their marriage in the local village godswood._

 _"Would you marry in secret under my father's view?" Asked the prince and Lyanna stayed silent. With a sigh Rhaegar continued. "Father's has been... unstable as of late. Even more so than usual. The tourney at Harrenhal was done partially so I could talk with the other lords of a possible Grand Council to be held in the future. I fear that if I leave things the way they are my father would do something monumentally... unwise. That's why I want you to stay far away from him."_

 _"I suppose that makes sense. Dorne is as good place as any to hide from him and my own father."_

 _"Good. Once we arrive at the village we will rest for a while before going to the Tower of Joy. We can hide there for a while. There you should be safe, and you can bear me strong children. The dragon must have three heads, after all."_

~~O~~

"I didn't knew what he was talking about until I remembered that the Targaryens had an habit of marrying their siblings off each other. I of course objected that since, you know..."

I shuddered at the mention. "Yeah, nobody can fault you for that."

"It was then that he showed signs of his true nature. He became furious when I objected to my future son or daughter incestuous relationship with his older half-siblings, or worse yet, with each other. For a moment in front of me it wasn't the prince Rhaegar, noble warrior poet that managed to catch my heart and offered to love me for what I am instead of what I should be, but instead in front of me it was the son of the Mad King."

~~O~~

 _They were at the Tower of Joy for some time now, and Rhaegar advances towards Lyanna started to become more forceful as the days passed, specially after she bleed for the month. While the insistence was becoming annoying it wasn't like she didn't liked to perform the act itself, and in some ways could sympathize with Robert and his lust if he felt nearly as good as she did._

 _It wasn't until she had waken up earlier than usual to grab something to eat when she saw the solar of the tower open, where Rhaegar and the Maester did some of their work. Curious she entered the room and saw a new letter that had arrived by raven._

 _Her brother Brandon was imprisoned by the King, and her father was summoned to answer for his crime. She remembered that a raven had came a couple of days back._

 _"When were you going to tell me!" She said bursting into the room she shared with her husband. "My brother Brandon is being held captive because he thinks I'm kidnapped! We have to get to King's Landing as soon as possible to dispel those rumors!"_

 _The prince rose from the bed gracefully, before standing tall in front of her. His gaze was somber, and his voice was grave and what he said next would change Westeros forever._

 _"No."_

~~O~~

"I believed him. When he said he loved me I believed him. When he said he would help me talk with my father I believed him. When he said everything would be ok I believed him. It was all a lie! A lie so he could have his damned Visenya!"

By now Lyanna was openly crying, and I reached to hug her even as I took care not to press on her bulging stomach.

"Even as I heard the news that my father had burned to death and my brother died choking himself desperately trying to save him, after I tried to bite off his dick that damn son of a whore asked his Kingsguard to hold me down so I could perform my 'marital duties' to him, like his own mother did when he and his brother were born!"

"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have endured that." I said to her. Just because she was married didn't meant that she wasn't allowed to say no to her own husband, specially in such circunstances. My own memories of my parents and my old man memories agree that what he did was rape, no matter her marital status.

"When I heard the news that Rhaegar was dead I thought I could be sent back home, even in shame, but apparently my _dear husband_ orders for me to not leave the tower until my son is born held even after his death, until you came and killed the three kingsguard holding me here."

I nodded to her. "Son?"

"He wanted a Visenya, then I will give him a son so I can spite him even after death."

I nodded to her once more before sighing. What a mess. "I will talk with Howland and Greatjon first. You wait here for a little while."

~~O~~

"... and that's what happened."

Both men were silent and for a moment I was really glad they were the only two that came with me. In hindsight it was a great idea not to bring a big party with me to rescue Lyanna.

"So the lass did something monumentally stupid AND was conned by the pretty boy." Said Greatjon with a frown. "Can't say she will gather much sympathy with the men when she gets back", at my glare he continued with a cough, "but even I know when to bend the truth a little."

Howland was quiet, before he palmed his face and made as if he wanted to scream. "I should have meet with her midway through her trip. I knew she was discontent with her father and had few friends back at Winterfell, if she had a friendly shoulder to cry upon this never would have happened."

"I choose to blame all this mess on Rhaegar and be done with it. If the son of a bitch didn't tried to two time his own wife and kept to his pants none of this would have happened." Not that Lyanna was blameless in all of this mess, but it helped with maintaining the story if we all believed that Rhaegar was the sole responsible for the war. Less of a headache that way.

"What are we going to do with the unborn babe?" Asked Greatjon after a moment of silence. "Robert will probably want to kill the boy, with more reason for that than the deaths of the other Targaryens."

I winced. Differently from the standard netorare stories my old man memories supplied, much to my shame, in Westeros the male being cuckolded this way will basically never take it down passively. He would lash out violently, often in the direction of the two responsible for this. Rhaegar was already dead and I doubt Robert would ever go further than slapping at Lyanna's face for this, but he would no doubt kill the boy at the first opportunity.

"We will think of something", I finally answered, "there's always the Wall a a fall back option, even if I prefer not to force a newborn baby to that fate. That's a place only those who choose to be or that seeks redemption for their crimes must go."

Both men nodded, and we set out to travel back to King's Landing. By that time we might have come up with something regarding not Jon Snow fate.


End file.
